Albert leggr



(No Model.) ,4

A. LEGGKE C. W. WESTON.

SEWING MACHINE NEEDLE- No. 474.841. Patenteii May 17, 18

INVENTO S 444 ,M, I H1 40 m ATTORNEYJI g WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT LEGG, OF MILTON, AND CHARLES \V. VESTON, OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.

SEWING-MACHINE NEEDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,841, dated May 17,1892.

Application filed October 15, 1891. Serial No. 408,815. (No model.)

I To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ALBERT LEGG, residing at Milton, in the county ofUlster, and

CHARLES WV. WESTON, residing at New York, in the county of New York,State of New York, both citizens of the United States, have a needlethat will operate successfully upon all kinds of material. We attainthese objects by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout thevarious views.

Figure 1 is an enlarged front view of a needle embodying our invention.Fig. 2 is a leftside view, and Fig.3 a right-side view, of the same.Figs. 5 and 6 are cross -sections, respectively, on lines 5 5 and 6 6,looking in the direction of the arrows of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows amodification.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 8,A is a needle adapted to fit theneedle-bar of a sewing-machine. Near the point or lower end of theneedle, or where the eye is ordinarily located, a recess or notch b isformed, running upward toward the butt of the needle. This recess ornotch 19 is shaped substantially like an ordinary needle-eye, open atthe lower extremity such, for instance, as that shown in our applicationfor Letters Patent for sevvinglnacliines, Serial No. 3%,301, filed March18, 1890.

In a reciprocating-shuttle machine it is essential that the needleshould carry the thread in its eye or recess during its partial rise forthe purpose of forming a loop for the entry of the shuttle and not slipout until some resistance other than mere gravity is met upon thefarther rise of the needle. \Ve therefore form the recess or notch bsmallest at its opening-point d. The size of said opening d reguance ismet.

lates the size of thread to be used; but a much wider range of threadmay be used in the same. needle than in any needle now used.

\Ve have found that in operating upon material that hugs the needleclosely-such, for instance, as fine new muslin the spur c of the recessis apt to catch and tear the material, nnless it is guarded moreeffectually than has been accomplished heretofore. To this end we roundor point the lower end of said spur a, so that said point is on allsides within the outside line or normal surface of the needle, and alsoomit the ordinary grooves at e below the eye or recess, as the thread isnot carried by the recess on its rise when it is above the material.

In order to facilitate the easy rise of the needle through the material,we slope or round off the edges of the lower surfacef of the recess, orthe whole surface f may have a general slope or slant outward from theback of the recess and down toward the pointeof the needle. WVe havefound that when this surface f of the recess has no slope or slant, orslants only outward and down toward the point, the thread is apt to beinjured or broken, and does not slip out readily from the recess at theproper time. WVe therefore slant or slope said surface f in thedirection of feed of the thread to wit, from the long-groove side of theneedle down toward the short-groove side, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6. Theresult of which construction is that the thread is fed more-readilythrough the recess or eye and is released therefrom more readily whenresistwe have found, too, that the operation of the needle may befacilitated by rounding or pointing the lower end of said spur c moretoward the long-groove side of the needle than the other. By this meansthe size of the opening 01 may be diminished by bringing the end of spurc opposite a higher point of the slanting surfacef and the general slantof the various parts is increased, rendering the passage of the needleboth ways through the material easier.

To render the needle strong, we form the recess b so that its centerline is alittle in front spectively, also a little in frontof saidcenter line. Thus there is a line of greater amount of stock down theback of the needle, as shown in Fig. 5.

In our application for Letters Patent for a sewing-machine filedsimultaneously herewith a mechanism is described by which the thread isfed to the needle in front when the needle is in the material. In such amechanism the long groove h of the needle may be turned as shown in Fig.4. The object of this device is to allow the thread, when it is fed tothe needle from the front, to pass down through the long groove thereof.

What we claim, and desire tosecu re by Let ters Patent, is

1. A sewing-machine needle having arecess for engaging the thread, whichconsists of a notch in the front of said needle and running up towardthe butt of the same, the point of the spur of said notch being on allsides within.

the normal surface of the needle, and the lower surface of said notchbeing inclined downward all the way from the long-groove side to theshort-groove side of said needle, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

2. In a sewing-machine needle, the device for engaging the thread, whichconsists of a notch in the front of said needle and running up towardthe butt of the same, the point of the spurof said notch beingon allsides within the normal surface of the needle, and the lower surface ofsaid notch being inclined downward all the way from the long-groove sideto the short-groove side of said needle, and also outward and downwardfrom the hack of said notch, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

3. In a sewing-machine needle, the device for engaging the thread, whichconsists of a notch in the front of said needle and running up towardthe butt of the same, the point of the spur of said notch being on allsides within the normal surface of the needle and on the long-grooveside of the longitudinal center line thereof, and the lower surface ofsaid notch beinginclined downward from the longgroove side to theshort-groove side of said needle, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures, in presence of twowitnesses, this 14th day of October, 1891.

ALBERT LEGG. CHAS. W. WESTON. Vitncsses:

WM. B. WHITNEY, H. V. N. PHILIP.

